Pleora's external frame grabbers have been deployed in tens of thousands of unique mission-critical systems. With the launch of the iPORT CL-Ten Full External Frame Grabber, the CL-Ten product family now supports video transmission from Camera Link Full, Medium, and Base cameras over a 10 Gigabit Ethernet (GigE) link. Vision system designers are currently deploying the new iPORT CL-Ten Full External Frame Grabber in a range of high-bandwidth vision applications, including automated inspection systems for transportation and manufacturing.

Pleora's iPORT CL-Ten Full allows Camera Link Full cameras to be used in a flexible range of GigE Vision network configurations, from traditional umbilical connections to multipoint-to-multipoint switched video networks with many cameras, many workstations, and distributed image processing. In comparison, Camera Link Full interfaces require specialized, bulky, and expensive cables that support only umbilical connections and need costly extender kits to achieve distance.

The iPORT CL-Ten Full transmits uncompressed video at the maximum Camera Link Full rate of 6.12 Gb/s. The video is sent with low, consistent end-to-end latency directly to ports on a computer over industry-standard 10 GigE fiber cable. With the long reach of 10 GigE - 1000s of meters versus 10 meters for Camera Link - processing and image analysis equipment can be located outside of harsh environments, in more convenient locations for maintenance, or in centralized operations centers. The iPORT CL-Ten Full also features a sophisticated programmable logic controller (PLC) that allows users to precisely measure, synchronize, trigger, and control Camera Link Full cameras and imaging devices in a networked environment.

"The iPORT CL-Ten Full maximizes the performance of Camera Link Full cameras by providing vision system manufacturers with the networking, cabling, and cost-advantages of GigE," said John Phillips, senior manager, product management, Pleora Technologies. "This new external frame grabber expands Pleora's product family for Camera Link cameras, allowing designers to integrate any Camera Link Base, Medium, or Full camera into a networked environment."

Pleora will be showcasing its family of iPORT CL-Ten External Frame Grabbers for Camera Link cameras, along with its portfolio of external frame grabbers and embedded video interface hardware, at Vision China in Shanghai, March 18-20th, 2014. (Booth E1.1321)

Cabling and networking advantages

System designers are currently deploying the iPORT CL-Ten Full in applications where long-distance reach and multicasting deliver performance, cost, and reliability advantages. For example, the CL-Ten is being designed into wayside and mobile railway inspection systems to automatically monitor railcar structural components, safety appliances, and track integrity.

In an automatic wayside inspection system, a series of Camera Link Full cameras along the track and in an overhead gantry capture images of key components on the moving train. The CL-Ten Full External Frame Grabber's integrated PLC synchronizes multiple position sensors, cameras, and lighting sources and triggers the image acquisition process.

Images from Camera Link Full cameras are converted at the source by the iPORT CL-Ten Full into GigE Vision-compliant video streams and transmitted to servers in a trackside enclosure for analysis. With the extended reach of Ethernet, analysis equipment can be located away from the harsh trackside environment and in more convenient locations for maintenance. If a defect is detected, the system delivers a message along with images detailing the failure over the long-reach Ethernet cable to a centralized operations center, where inspectors are alerted of any issues and can halt the train or, in the case of non-critical issues, schedule maintenance.

In a mobile railway inspection system, Camera Link Full cameras are installed on railcars or service vehicles to detect damage to the rail and overhead track components. The iPORT CL-Ten Full External Frame Grabbers convert the image feeds from the Camera Link Full cameras to GigE Vision-compliant video streams. The video streams are aggregated onto a single network and transmitted to an onboard workstation for analysis. If defects are identified, image data is overlaid with corresponding GPS information and transmitted wirelessly to an operations center.

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